


RAI

by Mystionic



Category: Metal Slug (Video Games)
Genre: Fan Characters, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21652090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystionic/pseuds/Mystionic
Summary: Following strange reports, the PF Commando team arrive at a hidden base. Here they discover a man built machines that can not only think for themselves but are powerful in their own right. Now the machines are loose and separated in this war torn world. The commandos sets their sights on these machines. Hoping they can get to them first.
Kudos: 3





	1. Life

_A man has created life within machines, the ability to think and feel their own way. This project, to him, was meant to see how robots evolve, how they see the world, and how they feel. Little did he know, he was going to change the course of the war. Something that has been never seen in years until now..._

Deep in an unknown location, a small abandon base sits near the edge of the forest. There a young man just finished putting the calculated dates and places the capsules on lockdown. He can only smile at his four creations, it took 10 years of blood, sweat and hard work to finish them all. He couldn't wait to greet them as their father! Well, first he'll take them home before doing all of that and teach them what's going on. But for now, he'll have to wait until April for them to wake. That may seem like a long time but for him, it's no big deal. He can hide out before going back home… and to the Regular HQ where he works.

Due to a seizure he's not allowed to come back until he recovers. He doesn't mind as it happened in the middle of the battlefield, which caused his teammates to retreat and get him back to the medical ward, failing the mission in the possess. That was…embarrassing, by the time he snapped out of it he was in bed. He shakes his head before leaving the capsules in the lab, but not before he turns to machines and smiles.

"Just you wait guys." The man said softly before closing the room. He smiles again as he approached his office and opened the door. In his office is filled with all sorts papers, blueprints, and computers, he sighs as he enters in.

"What to do now?" he flops on the chair, he fixes his shaggy brown hair. The man decided to check his computer again specifically one of his files. He edits the document, finally concluding it. Before he presses save, the computer suddenly freezes, the man sighs before he tries to turn it off. The screen goes static causing the man to groan in annoyance, he tries to turn it off again. No good, the static is still there, the man touches the power button. Finally, the computer turns off, the man was about to go before the computer turns on again. He turns and eyes at the screen, what is it now?

 _ **"First Lieutenant Aran."**_ A familiar voice came on screen, the man jumps up in fright. A black silhouette appears beside two hulking figures in a dimly lit room. How the hell did he gain access to his computer!? The male growls loudly at the figure who finally reveals itself. General Mordan, the man who caused the whole rebellion.

 _ **"Surprise to see me, Derek?"**_ Morden smirks _**"You were never a careful person, it was fortunate that your computer is easily hackable~”**_

Derek yells in frustration, who would've thought, he forgot to put the anti-hacking software the SECOND he finished building them. Now Morden is right on his screen, mocking him.

"What the hell do you WANT!?" the man bangs his fists against the table. Ah yes, there's the rage Morden enjoys looking at.

 _ **"Simple, whatever you're building is marvelous. I think it will come in handy for my well being, don't you agree?"**_ The Devil chuckles. _**"You have 30 hours to surrender the project to me or else."**_

Morden laughs maniacally, the computer suddenly glitches and shuts down.

Derek only glares at the screen before he gets up and starts moving the capsules in another room. He'd never used his emergency office before, as it was supposed to be used just in case an army invades his base, this is the only room that he can hide them away. Next, he moves most of the blueprints in the same room, including the final blueprints and information on why he build them in the first place, he quickly punches the code in. The door seals, giving it an illusion that it's just a plain wall. After that's over and done with, Derek starts to burn the other papers, including his diary, not wanting the rebels to use the data.

The man gathers his guns, when he first arrived at this base he noticed that there were guns hidden in a bunker. Sure enough, Derek kept those there just in case he ever needed them. He sets his traps outside, that way there'll be fewer Rebel soldiers when the event happens. For the remainder of the day, Derek continues to prepare for the Rebels. He would have called for help, but knowing the Regular officers, they'll dismiss his distress as they think he wants to end his suspension early.  
__________________________  
It's already night, Derek just finished the last of his tasks. All the possess papers and his diary has been burnt, all the traps have been set, and the guns have been chosen for the job. Derek goes back in the room, just in case the capsules are still there. There the capsules lay side by side and in them, his creations sleep peacefully. All that hard work finally paid off, but now they'll have to survive on their own, or until the Regulars find them and bring them back to base. Hopefully the latter happens Derek thought as he approached a capsule, containing the eldest creation.

"I'm sorry guys…" Derek touches the first capsule, looking at it sadly. "I won't be here to see you." With that he closes the room one more time, knowing that this will be the last he'll see them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, I've written the story before. But I didn't like it then so I'm rewriting it. it's somewhat the same but with one less character and better writing. I hope you guys enjoy this remake.


	2. Hidden Office

**[There was unusual activity in a forest about four months ago, not only that, but multiple attacks were recorded on our side and the Rebels. Go investigate the area and find out what's causing all of this!]**

With that order in place, Marco and the others get on the helicopter and moves toward the location. Not much happened in the past few months because the Rebels are silent this time. It makes Marco wonder if Morden is planning something big. Tarma is busy looking at the coordinates with Eri while Fio is taking a nap, using Marco's leg as a pillow. Hopefully, this isn't another dud like last time when they received a so-called emergency mission. Turns out it was a prank call set up by a couple of trainees, of course, they got punished for misusing the phone. Marco started to doze off when Tarma shakes him. He gets up, waking Fio in the process. The trio looks out the window as the pilot calls for them. Tarma is the first to speak since the helicopter ride.

"Is this the place?" the pilot nods, sure enough, a sizeable base comes into view, it's damage from the looks of it. The vehicle hovers over the damaged base, allowing the four to parachute in. As they get closer to the ground, they see a few skeletons below.

Corpses? Marco thought as he touched the ground Who does it belong to? Tarma, Eri, and Fio land thinking the same thing. Marco got his answer as he inspects closer. The Rebels no less. They look around, the base is littered with numerous bodies of the Rebel infantry. Some are decomposing, giving off a horrible smell which made Fio gag.

"Oh, dear!" She and Eri cover their nose. "Somebody must have gone crazy!"

"No kidding." Tarma kicks a body riddled with bullet holes.

"Whoever was here give them one hell of a fight." Marco nods in agreement. The four approaches the door, or where the door was supposed to be. The chilly air touches their skin, making the team shudder as they go in. More bodies pop up but fewer in numbers, splattered on the walls is dried blood and open holes. Eri gazes at the bodies some were shot but the majority were stabbed as if the person was desperate to keep themselves safe. They reach the middle of the base; four hallways are connected to where they currently stand. Marco signals for the team to split since there are numerous rooms within the building. Plus, it'll take less time to find someone…or something within this building, because judging from all the numerous corpses, someone was is in here working.

Fio walks down the west hall, the gun is drawn just in case someone ambushes her. So far, no doors appeared in the hall, something about this empty hall made Fio shiver. It didn't help that the base is cold as the winter nights, well at least it's not hot like it was outside. Fio continues to go down until she sees an open door, the young woman tiptoes to the door before opening it. Judging from the space and the open fridge, she's in the kitchen. She shines her flashlight on a table a few rats and roaches scurry away from the bright light.

"EW!" Fio yelps. As she turned something caught her eye, she approaches the table, there a bowl and crumbs comes to her point of view. Looks like someone was eating here. She thought as another shape caught her eye. Fio moves the flashlight over and sees pot, pans, and utensils down the sink. Nothing caught her interest as she just browsed around the deserted kitchen, In the drive, the food is either moldy or expired. Nothing is in the cabinets either, just more roaches and expired food.

 ** _"Did you find anything?"_** Eri's voice came from the talkie.

"If roaches and rats count than no." Fio replied looking at the pots and pans. She picks up one of the pans, which has a huge dent on the side. It's like this person used to the pan too, not just the guns and a knife.

 ** _"Come to the east hall, I found something."_** Fio sighs as she turns and runs to Eri's location.

Eri was exploring the east hall, she looked through numerous doors, but most are empty. Except for one room, it had ashes right in the middle of it. That was enough evidence for Eri to radio Fio. A few minutes later Fio arrives.

"Look at this." The younger woman leads her in and sure enough, Fio sees the ashes along with the large burn mark on the floor. "Looks like somebody was trying to get rid of evidence." Eri said picking up a scrap, indeed the scrap was previously a piece of paper. Eri hands it to Fio, who puts it in her napkin and folds in neatly.

"What do you think it was?" Fio asked as Eri scrapes the burn mark.

“Maybe someone's diary or paperwork, that stuff is easy to burn. So, you know, the rebels won't get their hands on classified information?" With that Eri stands up and heads out the door, Fio following close behind.

"We need to find Marco and Tarma."

* * *

Marco was on his side of the hallway until Tarma called him through the talkie. That's when he immediately ran to find his best friend, sure enough there he is, leaning against the wall. The Japanese man knocks on the wall, it gives off a hollow like noise. Marco shuffles closer to the odd-looking wall, touching it. There must be an electronic lock somewhere... Marco grunts as he feels something touch his side.

"Knock it off Tarma…" Marco said as he slaps a hand away.

Tarma chuckles moving away from his best friend. Marco brushes his fingers around a suspicious area and presses it, the keypad reveals itself.

"Well?"

"Radio Eri and Fio." Tarma removes his talkie to radio the girls.

Marco kneels as he removes his backpack, pulling out his mini silver laptop. The blonde hooks four cables to the keypad and starts typing up his virus, he uploads it. Soon the girls arrive and judging from what Marco is doing they guess that he's found something.

Fio hands Tarma her napkin, he unfolds it and raises an eyebrow. There the scrap lays, tucked for safekeeping in case it ever flies away from them.

"What's this?"

"A piece of paper I found" Eri explained "Or what's left of it, somebody burned a diary or classified information. I guess the rebels stormed this base because somebody had something in here."

Tarma inspects the scrap closer. He sees a letter written on the paper, but he can only make out the word R, whatever that means.

Fio gazes at the wall as she knocks on it, there's that hollow noise again. She puts her ear against it to hear any other noises.

"The wall is fake." Marco answered as he types away "With this, we should gain access to what's inside."

"Ah yes," Eri started "One of those doors." The woman smirks as she places her hands on her hips.

Without hesitation, Marco quickly hacks into the keypad which loads the numbers on his laptop. Tarma glances at the screen for a moment, he approached the keypad and punches the numbers in. The wall clicks and moves, revealing the hiding space.


	3. Androids

The team glances at each other, they stroll in with their guns drawn. The office is pitch black they can't see anything, not even their flashlights can cover the whole room. Marco signals to Fio to find a switch, using her hands she skims through the wall for the switch. Sure enough, her fingers touch the object and she flicks it, the light blinks twice before it turns on. They start to survey the area, other than a desk not much is here.

  
Tarma goes further inside to see if anything else is in the office.

  
"Hm, just as I thought. Nothing." Marco sighs.

  
"Major? You might want to check this out." Tarma's voice came from the deeper part of the office.

  
Marco approaches the area where Tarma is standing, there he sees three silver capsules laying side by side. Strangely, instead of being closed the objects are wide open. As if whatever was in there escaped. Marco approaches the capsules, examining them up close. The metal is cold to the touch.

  
Eri and Fio turns to the desk near the door. There they see four blueprints, a computer and a note on top.

  
"Wow," Eri starts to say, "This person went out of their way to hide all of this stuff." she looks through the papers, picking up the white folded paper.

  
Fio glances at one of the blueprints with white writing on it. She removes it from the pile and takes a quick glance at it. It didn't take long as Fio looks at it with a surprised expression. Without hesitation, she approaches Marco and taps on his shoulder.

  
"Uh…Major?"

  
Marco turns to Fio, she's gripping the blueprint in her tiny hands. "You might want to look at this." She hands it over to the blonde, who takes it and opens it wide.  
The blueprint contains a figure standing in the center and on the right side, contains the machinery inside. On the side, Marco glances at a cylinder, which has an odd shape. Below it, two pairs of soles that have two large circles on each end. As Marco looks closer at the blueprint, Tarma glances at the desk along with the girls, two more blueprints show different figures and the extra information on the sides. The only thing similar is the heart like object within the center of the figure. According to the small note, this is a CORE, it gives the figure the ability to live and hold its feelings.

  
"I think old man Amadeus was building brainless bots in here."

  
Marco shakes his head, doubtful of Tarma's accusation. If Amadeus was truly here, why would he hide this base? Wouldn't the instiga be here? Where are the dead Amadeus soldiers? Or they weren't here at all. Amadeus is well known for creating robots and viruses, but never something like this. That's when it hits him, Amadeus would NEVER build anything with a hint of being sentient! Even if he did, he'll make sure that the robot stays under his control.

  
"No." Marco gets back up "Someone else was here."

  
He heads back to the three open capsules, looking at the blueprint and back at the capsules. Everything makes sense now! The hidden base within the forest, another office hidden, and the blueprints.

  
"It's not Amadeus. I now know what the person was building in here." He shows the blueprint he's holding in his hands. "It's too complicated to build a robot like this, and if anything, this person is giving THIS machine the ability to think. We're not dealing with mindless robots, we're dealing with androids."

  
The team looks at each other in shock, androids of all things? That's unheard of! There's little to no recourses to build them! The team was quiet for a good minute before Tarma sighs.  
"This is the biggest discovery in history." The Japanese man looks at the blueprint "No wonder why Morden and his goons were here. Three highly advanced robots with no limits on their behavior? I can't image the unlimited potential they have."

  
Marco nods in agreement, now they know what was in here.

  
"Is there anything important on the table?" Eri approaches Marco and hands him a piece of paper. The handwriting is in hard cursive. Marco could have sworn he knows someone who writes like this, he can't remember the name.

  
Tarma notices Marco spacing out, the man jabs his friend's ribs. "Well, what are you waiting for Major?"

  
Marco sighs as begins to read-

  
_To anyone who finds this,_   
_I may not be alive when you find the note, but I guarantee that my robots may not be here when you arrive. The project, R.A.I, is meant to see how robots evolve, how they see the world, and how they feel. But now I cannot see them enter the world thanks to that hellspawn, Mordan, he got someone to hack into my systems. If the androids are not there, retrieve them immediately, I do not want them causing trouble. If you do find them, try to understand that these four are not tools. I expect them to be treated the way you treat a human._   
_Sincerely,_   
_D.H.A_

  
Marco can only stare at the paper, this answers several questions he had rolling in his brain. The only problem now is that they don't have any leads on the robots, who knows where they are!? "Did you find anything else on that desk?" Marco asked the two girls.

  
"Only a computer." Fio said as she walks back to the desk.

  
Marco gives a small 'hmph', cracking his knuckles. Without saying a word, he opens the computer and turns it on, the keyboard lights up with many distinct colors. Grabbing his own flash drive from his bag and plugging it in, Marco connects it to the now loading computer screen. With a few taps and embedding a code, it only took a few seconds to gain full access to its secrets.

  
"Bingo!"

  
The screen shows different colored dots, light orange, light blue, and grey. Above the dots are the coordinates to their location. Before Marco can get to work, the dots begin to flash as a huge WARNING pops up. Two of the dots turns into a darker red than the other one.

  
"Oh boy," Tarma started "That can't be good."

  
Hovering the mouse over the dot, Marco sees a wall of text basically saying that the Android is attacking an area and same goes for the second dot. The latter, however, explains that the last android is experiencing high levels of stress.

  
 _So, two of them are causing trouble, one is in trouble._ Marco thought before speaking "We need to retrieve them before Morden." He types away "God help us if the robots don't encounter them first, Eri pack the blueprints and the note. We might need them later."

  
Eri nods and stuffs the blueprints in Tarma's bag (much to his dismay) and she pockets the note.

  
"Which one is closer?" Tarma asked Marco. Marco types on the computer again, on it, two dots disappear, the light blue dot remains. Judging from the coordinates…

  
"Sand Kingdom."


	4. Iria

After leaving the base, Marco had the regulars transport them via helicopter to the Sand Kingdom, then they hitch a ride in a truck. It would have been difficult since the team has no idea where the android is, but according to the Regular Army, there was an attack at the rebel base. The officials have no idea who caused it, but one thing is certain: the drone has captured images of the attack that took place that night. The Major has the driver deliver them to the rebel base, so they can find clues. One of the members gave the pictures to the driver, who passes it to Tarma.

  
"Major look at this!" Marco turns to Tarma who is carrying the captured photos. "This came from the drone yesterday!"

  
Marco takes the photos from his best friend; one photo shows the rebel base on fire and a few rebels running away. Although the second photo is blurry Marco sees what appears to be vehicles destroyed or riddled with holes. The last few photos contain a shadowy figure evading a group of rebels. Marco narrows his eyes, which Android is this? He'll have to ask Tarma for the blueprints once they get to the Rebel truck comes to a halt prompting Marco to look up, it's doors open allowing the team to exit. What they saw was unbelievable, the rebel base is decimated, bullet holes, dead bodies, destroyed vehicles lay all over the camp.

  
"Jeez!” Tarma kicks a body away.

  
Marco shakes his head, it probably attacked in self-defense…or malice. With the Rebel army being here, the Android must have set its sights on them first. After paroling around the base some more they find one tent intact, Marco peeks and goes in. There's only one computer sitting near a sword, assuming that's the main one used for security he moves towards it. Cracking his knuckles, he starts working his magic, hoping that there's anything important that he can get. Specifically, which android attacked the base.  
Security cameras didn't show anything important, other then troops running for their lives, and things are being set ablaze. One camera, however, reveals a black shadow strangling a rebel and then it seemingly disappears in the next shot. Marco was about to call his teammates until his radio went off.

  
**_“Marco we found something!”_ **

  
The Major wastes no time running out in the open and heading straight towards his team. With the way, Tarma spoke it was an emergency. If it wasn't then he probably found something that may lead them to the Android. In no time, he finds them standing around a certain area outside of the destroyed rebel camp.

  
“What’s wrong?”

  
Tarma points at the ground. There, large boot prints colliding much smaller ones. Looks like the rebels were attacking whatever came into their territory. Only for it to fight back. What's even strange is that the footprints that were in the middle disappeared and replaced them with tread marks. Either the Android hijacked a tank or straight up grabbed one from its place and threw it. judging from the looks of it the former is likely. As the tread marks are going in a different direction. Marco signals the team to follow the trail and see where it leads. If they do just that, they might be able to find what they're looking for.

  
They continue to follow the marks until it ends right in the middle of the ruined area. A pair of feet replaces it and continued forward until another pair of tread marks replace them. The team wonders if this Android hijacked two different vehicles at once, or…

  
Suddenly, vehicles of all kinds charges causing the four to open fire. Troops came flooding in next, barring arms. Although few in numbers, there are enough of them to form a circle. Finding themselves surrounded, the team ceases fire but still kept their guns pointed at the rebel troops.

  
“Hey lookie here! We found four lost dogs!” one rebel soldier mocked. The others laugh along with him.

  
Marco scowls at the troop’s immaturity. They won't be acting like this for long since they have no leader with them.

  
“I'm assuming you're looking for the same thing? I mean, after all, why else would you be here?” one of them spoke up. “Robots with no limits on their behavior. Not to mention the technology they have. Can you imagine them being on our side? We’d wipe the floor with you Regular dogs within a week! Soon with those robots on our side, the world will be Morden's! Wouldn't that be wonderful?”

  
“No,” Marco glares at the group “We'll find the missing androids first. We’re not letting that monster get his hands on them...”  
The team points their guns at the group, ready to fire once more. In response, the vehicles and troops prepare themselves. Some of them are already scared and want to run away. One soldier takes a step forward.

  
“Haha! Sorry, we already know where it went and we're not letting you get in our way!” He snaps his fingers. A Di-Cokka rolls up beside him. “By the time we're done with you, your search will be over!” The rebel soldier points to the team “Fire!”

  
No response. 

  
“Oh for the love of-I said fire!”

  
Without warning, the Di-Cokka opens fire on not only the squad but the rebel troops. The troops drop like flies as they are shot or ran over by the huge tank. Meanwhile the team ducks behind the sandbags, they hear ear-piercing shrieks and numerous vehicles exploding under its wrath. The team hears shouting followed by one vehicle driving off, the team hears guns roaring and more screaming. Tarma only got a swift glance at the battle, he shakes his head, it wasn't looking so good. Marco tried to get a peek at himself, a stray bullet nearly hits his head causing him to duck down again.

  
The screaming dies down along with the firing vehicles, Marco signals Eri to look. She nods poking her head out to look at the carnage, dead bodies, and destroyed vehicles covered the ground. It didn't help that the once golden color is stained in all shades of red. In the middle of it all, the Di-Cokka trembles violently looks like it's about to attack again. The rest pokes their head out drawing their guns, perhaps if they can sneak behind it…

  
No luck, the Di-Cokka snaps in their direction. The tank roars in an animalistic manner and hurls itself to the team at full speed, it became clear that it's ready to kill them.

  
"MOVE!" Marco and the team dives out of the way, Di-Cokka takes a sharp U-turn and barrels to the team again. In a blur the tank starts to shift, with its wheels still intact its bulk rearranges rapidly, transforming into the speedy Formor. With a violent smack, the vehicle used its autocannon to hit Tarma's side, making him scream in pain. Marco fires his Heavy Machine gun which bounces off its bulk, Fio tries to fire her Rocket Launcher only to be blasted. She collides with Eri, who is about to shoot her Laser Gun, missed the opportunity for an opening! Growling, Eri retaliates by hurling a grenade near its tracks, upon impact it recoils.

  
With a nod, they throw their explosives on it, each time a grenade hits the Formor it recoils and forms a heavy dent. As Fio throws another grenade, the tank fires it's projectile at it. The combined explosion causes a huge cloud of black smoke to enclose the group. Realizing it's no use, the Formor speeds away, not wanting to get captured or damaged by them. As the smoke clears the team they see it's nowhere to be found, they only thing left is the trail tracks it left behind.

  
"Where did it go…?" Fio asked glancing at the now empty spot.

  
Tarma groans in pain as struggling to get up, causing Eri to run over and give him a helping hand. 

  
Concerned about its hasty retreat, Marco shakes his head. One thing's for certain…that's one of the androids. "Fio? Can you lend me a blueprint?" The young woman reaches in Tarma’s bag and hands over one of them.

  
"Eri can you track where it went? I don't want that tank getting away."

  
As Eri figures out which direction it went, Marco looks over the first blueprint, there must be a clue. There wasn't much about these two that matched what they encountered, so he asks Fio to pull out the other ones. Marco analyzes the third one, one sentence caught his eye:

  
**_This Android shifts into multiple vehicles via copy chip, she's ten times more powerful than the original vehicle that she scanned. She operates on her own without requiring assistance._ **

  
"Looks like we found our culprit." Marco shows Tarma the blueprint, the Android on it is rather feminine and tall. Perhaps the most shocking is that she doesn't have any weapons like the other two. A drawing of a chip lays right next to the robot along with the information Marco just read. 

  
"How are we going to get her?" Tarma asks, even if they even try to talk to her she'll just try and kill them again.

  
"Well…" Marco trails off as he looks at best friend. Tarma's eyes immediately bug out of his head.

  
"…That's a terrible idea."

  
"It's the only one we have."

  
As Eri comes back from tracking the tank down, Marco informs them of his plan to get the robot to their side: Letting one of them negotiate with her instead of all of them going at once.  
Tarma willfully volunteers and heads off to meet the android, Eri tells him to go North then turn East. She kept going with no signs of turning anywhere else as far as she knows. It would've been nice if he'd take his motorcycle, but he must walk. Tarma walks into the distance, occasionally, he would glance at the tracks to see if he's on the right path. It takes a while for him to get there, who knows where this android Is hiding? She's probably waiting to ambush the young man…or she's probably afraid of him. A shadowy shape appears before the young man, Tarma starts to walk slowly not wanting to scare her.

  
Sure enough, he spots her, it's like she's dormant now. Even without her moving it's still intimidating to Tarma. It doesn’t help that she's "looking" directly at him. There she is he thought she's the Di-Cokka again. "Major I found her," Tarma said over his talkie.

**_"Approach her with caution and if she attacks is again…run_. _"_**

Tarma nods as he approaches the large tank. "Hey-" multiple cannons fires near the Japanese man making him yell in fear. With another roar it ignites its engines and charges towards the Japanese man, Tarma dives out of the way. Kicking up dust it makes a sharp turn, a familiar glow is boiling in its cannon. He has to think of something!

  
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! You'd be pretty cute if you weren't so scary!" Di-Cokka halts in its tracks. Tarma's eyes widen in amusement, he wasn't expecting that reaction. "I mean you're already cute," He slowly walks to the tank with his hands up. "killing me would make you not so cute, now would it?"

  
Di-Cokka backs up while shaking it didn't know whether to shoot Tarma or to take his compliments. It couldn't move as Tarma sat on its bulk.

  
 _Looks like she doesn't know what to do with me now_. Tarma thought as he pats the tank.

  
"Now that I got your attention," he started to say "hear me out before you kill me." Di-Cokka stops shaking, ready to listen. "You're one of the androids, right? Listen, sweetie, you and your siblings are in danger. We're here to help you but can't if you keep attacking us like a wild animal." Tarma looks at the cannon, assuming that's where her eyes are. "If you truly want help, you'll follow me back to my teammates. If you don't then I'll leave you on your own if that's what you wish."

  
The Di-Cokka made no sound, the Captain shakes his head as he jumps off it. "If that's your choice-"

  
 **"N-no!"** a radio like voice came from the tank, which made Tarma jump. **"Please help! I-I'm too scared to be left alone again! Please!"** It rolls up to him in a panic. **"I don't know where my siblings are! These guys in green keep trying to attack and kidnap me! Please!Please!Please!Don'tleaveme!"**

  
Tarma falls on his butt yelping as the tank gets closer each time it speaks. With her panicking this hard he's going to be roadkill!

  
"STOP!" Tarma yells, the Di-Cokka halts itself shaking. The Japanese man sighs in relief before getting back up.

  
"Calm down! I wasn't gonna leave you…" Tarma grumbles, making the tank back away again. He takes a deep breath before speaking in a softer tone. "Let's just take you back to my team, ok?" Di-Cokka rolls back to him. He gives it a soft smile as he leads her back to his teammates. She seems quiet, more docile than before, even the way she spoke on the radio gave her personality away.

  
 _Looks like she was afraid all along._ Tarma thought to himself, the tank rolls closer to Tarma making sure she stayed on his heels. It wasn't long before they got back to his teammates, who upon seeing them lowered their guns.

  
Marco looks at the Di-Cokka from its bulk to its lower tracks, it doesn't look any different aside its cannon. Two black parts connect to the main cannon, which made it longer then it should be. Marco sighs, with it pointing its cannon at him, made Marco think she's ready to fight again, in reality, he just wants to see her in a normal form.

  
"You mind showing yourself...?"

  
**Click!**

  
Di-Cokka shutters as it begins to assemble itself, it's like watching the Slug Gunner transform uniquely.

  
The mechanics that formed the tank is humanizing, tank treads snap in half, limbs unfold, taking the treads place, it's skin and clothing appears, with a soft click it's head pops out. Marco glances at the android's real form, she's the same height as Tarma, green eyes, long brown hair, and black rectangular glasses. Her clothing is simple with the color light blue and black on her shirt, skirt, and boots. Marco wastes no time approaching the android to introduce himself.

  
"I must say, I never saw a robot that can shift into vehicles." He sticks out his hand "Marco Rossi it's a pleasure." The Android shakes his hand in silence. "That man over there that brought you over here is Tarma and my other two teammates Eri and Fio are here too. If I'm wrong, you must be Iria right?"

  
"Y-yes, sir." The Android whispers. Iria clears her throat so the team can hear her. "I'm sorry about earlier, I thought-" Marco raises his hand to dismiss her.

  
"We'll discuss that later, right now we need to get to safety."

* * *

Day soon turns into night, the temperature cools down making the team more comfortable. They finally found a spot far from the Rebels, Eri prepares a fire, Tarma sets up two tents for the gang to sleep. Iria volunteers to guard them until morning since she doesn't require sleep. Marco and Fio sits near the android, talking.

  
"I understand why you attacked us earlier, we know about you and your siblings," Marco said as Iria gives him a depressing look. "I need you to tell you're story, beginning, middle, and end."

  
Iria takes a deep breath and starts: "Three months ago we left our home to find a place in the world. But these guys in green uniforms kept trying to capture us. Every day we hide and hide and struggle not to get captured. Every time we did find a hiding spot they would always find us, that's when we started traveling through the air. Three days later, they found us yet again I had to land so everybody can get away, then my oldest brother suggested all three of us separate so that way they will have a tough time trying to get us. We did just that and that's how I ended up here." Iria sighs "I still don't know where my siblings are…”

  
"I'm sorry Iria," Fio said in a sad tone, rubbing the androids back. "I can't imagine how you feel."

  
Marco nods before getting out the laptop. "I found this in your creator’s lab, including your blueprints." Marco turns it on, showing all the dots.

  
Iria looks in shock, she never even noticed this before, since she and her siblings were in a hurry to leave. "We're going to get the next android, which is this orange dot, do you know their name?"

  
"Raymond, he's the oldest out of the three of us." Iria narrows her eyes at it. "The dot is moving, I'm pretty sure he's running off somewhere…"

  
Marco gives the female android a perplex look before he turns the laptop around. She isn't lying, the dot is moving fast! Marco hovers the cursor over the dot, again giving off its coordinates. It didn't say where he is specifically, so Marco looks at the location he's running to.

  
"Fio radio the helicopter," Marco pulls out the blueprint from Tarma's bag, glancing at it. "looks like your brother is heading to China. I need you to remain with us at all times, we may need your help to convince your brother."

  
Iria nods, she hopes her the brother won't attack them first...but he's too belligerent.


	5. Raymond

It didn't take long for the helicopter to arrive and pick them up. As they were heading back to base, the higher-ups radio them a message. Raymond is causing a lot of destruction, to the point where the Regular Army can't stop him. So, when they found him again, they decided to inform the squad of his whereabouts. Marco's prediction on Raymond's location is correct, now they're heading to the highway area.

  
During the ride, Iria turns into a walkie-talkie, mainly for safety and security, no one will notice that she's with the PF. Being the sweet man he is, Tarma volunteers to place her in his back pocket just in case. Everyone but Tarma remains silent, wondering what to do next with the current information they have.

  
"What is something that everyone looks stupid doing? "Tarma snickers, waiting for someone to respond.

  
"No." Marco says while scratching his nose.

  
"Well, you're n-'

  
Something pierces through Tarma's words, it wasn't something that the team hears every day. Much less the strangeness of the noise, not even the pilot knows what it is. They look around, not knowing where it came from. Suddenly, a gust surrounds them with such force it might blow them away, they all turn to the back…only to see a gigantic hole. One after another they are sucked into open air, screaming at the sudden change of events. One parachute after another opens, slowing the plumbing soldiers. They see the helicopter spiral and crash against a building, there goes their ride home.

  
The sound of the helicopter crashing blows out his ears. Marco hears muffling from the distance, sounds like his teammates are ok. It took five minutes for him to be able to see the ground below and for his ears to clear up. Marco lands safely and checks to see if his teammates are still up there.

  
Without warning, nor a sound, Marco feels a wave of pain on his side and before he knew it, his back is against the 3-ton Utility Truck. The major crumples on the road groaning, he tries to look for the cause. Just for a second, he can see a figure with glowing eyes, Marco groans as he tries to stand up, when he looks up again the figure was gone. He lowers his head as he hears running feet approach him.

  
"Major you ok!?" Eri grabs one of Marco's arms to help him up.

  
A pained sound comes out of his lips as he grips his side, no doubt he may have a bruise in the same area. Fio and Tarma came minutes later, reporting what they just saw: an orange blur blazing by them. They did not follow it, instead went to the direction it came from, which lead them here. Suddenly Iria vibrates, alerting the team.

  
 **"It's my brother."** Iria's voice came on. **"He does that every time he sees a potential threat."**

  
"Destroying helicopters and punching people…what a sweet boy." Eri rolls her eyes.

  
"Mind giving us a hand when we see him again?' Tarma asked her.

  
 **"I would assist you but…"** Iria hesitates for a moment before speaking again **"there's not much I can do other than provide some additional information."**

“Why not?” Tarma asks.

**“He has a bad habit of taking things the wrong way. He may think you’re forcing me to fight him.”**

  
"Great." Marco rubs his side, "I’ll appreciate it if you provide us with extra details."

  
 **"Yes sir. Raymond's arm cannon that's capable of ripping vehicles in two."** Iria explains **"Not only that, but he also has super speed. Which will be troubling if you're not careful enough. He's highly aggressive and won't care if you're not a threat, he'll try to injure you in every way possible."**

  
Marco sighs, this isn't good. To him, they had their hands full with Iria, but at least she was easier to come by. With Raymond, they'll have to use force. Judging from what Iria just explained, there aren't many options to deal with him.

  
"Can he be reasoned with?" Marco asks.

  
 **"Apparently not."** Iria sighs.

  
"So, what you're saying is that he'll attack us? Even if we try to negotiate with him?" Marco raises an eyebrow. This is quite important, they don't want to hurt the guy, but they shouldn't have to give their lives trying to approach him.

  
Iria doesn’t respond, leaving Marco with only one solution: slow him down. If they can do that without any problems, they'll be able to convince Raymond that they're not a threat.

* * *

  
 ** _"Can we forget about this guy and get the other one?"_** Tarma groans over the radio.

  
"No, we still have to catch him." Marco says firmly while opening a large ammunition box.

  
 ** _"Really!? I don't know how much more I can take!"_** Tarma yells.

  
They've been chasing Raymond for five hours, the energy they spend fighting him is taking a toll on their bodies. Almost every time they see or catch him, that damned android beats the ever-living hell out of them. It didn't help that their basic weapons have no effect. So, they had to use their special weapons. But each came with their own set of problems.

  
No luck with the Heavy Machine Gun and Laser. In the HNG case, the ammunition bounces off him. The Laser gun only fires in a straight line, the android dodges that much quicker.

  
With the Shotgun, they had to get close to him for it to work. That part never went well, the android is way too fast for them. The Rocket Launcher had a small effect by tripping him up, but that's all it would do. Anything else results in the ammo tossed back at them or destroyed by his blaster.

  
The majority of the weapons they found were also ineffective against Raymond, even the Zantetsu Sword, the most powerful weapon, did not affect him! Well, there is one they haven't used yet: Thunder Shot. With its usefulness and powerful beam, it'll paralyze Raymond for a few minutes. Marco hopes it'll work, sometimes the beam may not home on a target. Which is why they're in different spots, Tarma upfront, Fio behind Tarma on the left, Eri on the right. Their plan is to wait for Raymond to pass by, create a distraction, then shoot him.

  
"Fio, I finished putting the weapon together, any sign of him?"

  
 ** _"Yes, sir but..."_ **Fio hesitates to say the last word.

  
"What's wrong?" Marco asks.

  
**_"He's coming right now!"_ **

  
That last sentence came a little too late, a burst of plasma strikes the teams hiding place. The smoke from the impact clouds the area around the team, making them heavily disoriented. It wasn't long before Marco hears his teammates yelling. His eyes water as he runs out in the open, hoping to find or at least see one of his teammates. The voices stop the second he moves closer to their location. Marco curses, praying that they are not unconscious...or worse dead. Suddenly, his face plants on the ground as he's clobbered over and over, each hit harder than the last. He quickly shields his head, hoping no blow falls on either of his valuable parts.

  
As the beating comes to a halt, the smoke clears, revealing the damaged area once more. A puff of warm air tickles his arm, the androids shadow covers his entire body. Marco hears the Thunder Shot being kicked away from him. Tarma's loud voice and roaring gun reach both their ears. A frustrated sigh comes out of the android mouth, rather than turn and fight, he simply gets off Marco and makes a run for it.

  
Marco grits his teeth; they didn't come all this way to lose him now!

  
Marco rolls over to the gun, snatches it off the ground, and opens fire. A bolt of blue lighting zooms past the numerous obstacles, homes in on the android. He must've noticed the bolt because Marco sees him kicking his speed into overdrive. No good. A loud crash echoes through the highway. The team wastes no time running towards the crash, guns drawn, and all. Lo and behold, the android is on the ground, paralyzed from the blow he took.

  
"Halt!" Marco and his teammates aim at him. The android jolts right up only to flop over, moaning in pain. Looks like the Thunder Shot did an excellent job stopping him, now he has nowhere to go. He sees Raymond lifting his head with a challenging look in his eyes. With the last of his strength, he lifts his arm as if to dare them to come closer.

  
Marco takes a good look at Raymond. He's five inches shorter than Marco, brown hair, orange, and black clothing. What's noticeable is his glowing maroon eyes and a dark red arm cannon.

  
That's pointing straight at them…

  
"Easy buddy," Marco starts to say, "you're safe now, I know you want to protect yourself but if you don't calm down, we can't help you." As he talks, Marco edges closer to the android lowering his weapon bit by bit. "Your sister is with us as we speak and we have plans to find your other sibling. I'm not sure were your creator is either, but if we get some sign that he's alive, we'll save him too."

  
Raymond's eyes stop burning the second the Major mentions his siblings. Breathing heavily, he lowers his blaster.

  
"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" Marco smiles softly as the team lowers their guns. "As I said we have plans to find your other two siblings-."

  
"You said that already you fuck!" Raymond spat.

  
Marcos' eyes widen at Raymond's rude response. Ok, he hadn't expected that, much less the rudeness of his voice. Marco snaps out of his shock and glares at the disrespectful teen.

  
"…Who do you think you're talking to…?" An icy tone escapes from the Major's lips.

  
"Uh…a dude with a bad haircut?" He responds bluntly. 

  
Marco drops his Thunder Shot and marches up to him. Since Marco is taller than the robot, intimidating him is the least of his worries. He grabs Raymond's shoulders.

  
"Now you listen to me young man, I can shoot you with that gun again until you never move." Marco squeezes his shoulders "Unless you want me to do that, you do exactly as I say and show some respect. Do I make myself clear?" that last sentence.

  
"H-"

  
"I said, do. I. make. my. self. clear?" Marco gives the robot a threatening look.

  
No sound comes out of Raymond's mouth, only a heavy scowl. Marco huffs, turning away from Raymond, giving the signal that it's safe. Tarma is the first to come close, pulling out the second walkie-talkie and placing it on the ground.

  
"Hey, you can come out now!" He takes a step back.

  
The talkie vibrates before assembling itself into Iria. Sure enough, with a click, Iria's full form takes its place. The second she sees her elder brother a huge smile breaks across her face.  
"Sis?" Raymond stares in shock.

  
"Big brother!" Iria runs to Raymond with her arms spread wide. She finally meets him with a big hug, whimpering. It took a second for Raymond to hug Iria back, assuring her that he's ok and he's not damaged in the slightest.

  
"Aww." Fio intertwines her hands together, seeing people reunite is the sweetest thing.

  
Sighing, Marco moves away from the two. He pulls out the laptop and starts booting it up. He types away, making sure that the remaining dot is there. A shadow hovers over his body, annoying him.

  
"Who's next?" Tarma asks.

  
Marco turns the device over; a single grey dot shows on the screen. Marco approaches the reunited siblings and shows them this. "Now can one of you tell me who this is?" he asks.

  
"Alex." Iria answers, still hugging her brother.

  
"He's not too far from here. Although it'll take us a little while to get to his location." Marco looks at Iria "Since our ride is destroyed, do you mind if you can shift into a helicopter?"

  
The young girl nods, after one last squeeze, she lets go of her brother. The other backs away as Iria morphs into the same helicopter that Raymond destroyed before. Finally, she opens the cargo door allowing the team to go inside.

  
Raymond, however, hesitates to come in, staring as if he's thinking about something important.

  
"You ok?" Marco puts a hand on his shoulder.

  
"The hell you want to know!?" Raymond snatches his shoulder away from the Major.

  
 _Ok, I had enough of this…_ Marco thought as he gets up in Raymond's face. "You think I'm amused, young man…?"

  
"It-"

  
"GET IN THE COPTER!" Those four words made Raymond scramble inside.

  
Marco snorts before getting in the helicopter himself. He tells Iria the direction of her brother's location. After putting a quick calculation, Iria closes the door and takes off to the next destination.


	6. Alex

“Please! Please! Let this work..!”

Inside a jailhouse filled with prisoners, Derek desperately works on a plan. He has been here for four months now with no intention of giving up. Every beating, intimidating, and hard labor did nothing to break him. No matter what they did, he would not open his mouth. Left with no choice, Morden decides to hold him for execution in the next three days. It took five men to keep Derek from ripping the General's throat out. Afterward, they toss him back in his cell, but not before giving him a brutal beating. His back hurts each time he does anything, but that does not matter, because he’s preparing himself for what’s going to happen next. With a click, the message makes its way to whoever owns his computer. Derek prays to God that the message will reach someone. If no one responds, then he will have to make noise.

* * *

Within the sky and next to clouds, a single blue helicopter makes its way to an unknown location. Inside, the PF squad is discussing amongst themselves while Raymond and Iria are staying out of the conversation. For fifteen days straight they have been trying to find Alex. But each attempt to find his location was a failure. Each time they get closer to his spot the dot disappears and reappears in another place. It makes them wonder if the remaining android knows that they are following them. Regardless, it is starting to frustrate the team to no end, yet they press on.

“I’m praying this is the day we get him....” Tarma yawns loudly.

“We’ll find Alex soon, don’t worry.” Fio says with a smile while cleaning her glasses.

Marco shakes his head and looks back at the laptop. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Raymond is walking back and forth. Stopping occasionally to look ahead before continuing. He has been at it for an hour now. Concerned, he turns his attention to the android.

“You ok Raymond?”

Raymond shakes his head and heads over to a corner to sit.

Marco sighs then turns back to the others while stating “If Raymond and Iria attacked us first. Then Alex is more likely to respond the same way. We need to prepare before we find him.”

“I read his blueprint a bit,” Tarma starts to say “Alex has a gun that’s able to scan and mimic into that weapon. Sooooo...” he shrugs.

“Hmm… then the first thing we can do is not introduce any special weapons. If Alex attempts to use his gun, we’ll try to convince him to put it down and come with us.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Eri chimes in, “What if he just runs away? What if we must negotiate with him. We don’t know what type of person he is.” Eri says with a heavy sigh.

“True.” Marco turns to the front of the helicopter “Iria? Do you mind answering this for us?”

With a small beep, Iria’s voice echoes out the speaker. **“Yes sir!** **Alex is likely to listen to you all. But…you need to show proof that you are trying to rescue him.** **Otherwise, he might hide again.”**

After a few minutes thinking, Marco nods as he takes out the laptop. As the computer starts, he carefully tries to come up with every possible scenario and the method to solve it. Since Alex sounds like a reasonable individual, they will end up rescuing him without fail. But if he does end up attacking, they will have no choice but to disarm him immediately. The Major taps in the password again and gets a good look at the screen. Not even for a few seconds the dot blips back up. Marco immediately hovers the cursor over the dot and sees the coordinates. The area he’s in…

“Iria!” Marco jumps up from his seat “Head to these coordinates immediately!” He runs over to the cockpit and inputs the numbers for her to see.

Iria takes a quick look at the coordinates then picks up the pace. This is their only chance to retrieve Alex! Thanks to Iria’s speed and careful maneuver abilities. They arrive at the designated area. The android wastes no time looking for an area that is safe enough. She lands in a selected spot where there are no hostiles around. It is not far from where her brother is, but not close to arouse suspicion.

Empty is one word to describe this area, nothing but smoke and discarded vehicles. The bodies-or a lack of thereof- were filled with holes that not even the Heavy Machine Gun can spit out. The team looks at one another, knowing who did this to the poor saps. The android automatically opens the heavy door. With their guns out, each soldier hops out and points their weapon all around the surrounding area. After a few minutes of silence, Marco gestures for the siblings to come out. Raymond jumps out with his buster forming in his hand. After what has happened, he’s not taking any chances. Iria shifts back to her regular form and runs to her brother. Marco approaches the two, gun still drawn.

“Raymond, Iria, Listen to me closely. At any event that we come across any rebel soldiers, hide. I know you two are formidable fighters, but you’ll never know when these rebels will pull a fast one.”

“Why…?”

“This way, you won’t get captured”. Marco raises an eyebrow.

Raymond rolls his marron eyes. He should have seen this response coming. All that they have ever done is hide! Iria nods, as much as she wants to assist, she cannot risk hers and her brother’s safety.

After confirming that there is no rebel in sight, the group starts walking. The area is deathly silent, no sound besides the steps of the squad is within earshot. As they walked, they discover a few more bodies lying around. Each with multiple bullet wounds on their bodies, likely from the same weapon. Fio turns her head to the androids behind her, the youngest gives her a thumbs up. Raymond raises an eyebrow before looking away from the Master Sergeant. Fio gives them a slight smile as she continues to walk with the squad. They see a few figures up ahead. Knowing it is not one of their own Fio pushes the androids back behind her. The teams scamper behind a misshapen vehicle.

With a flick of Marcos's wrist, Eri creeps towards the figures. Thankfully, the figures were not far. Just a few more steps then she will be able to listen in. The blond woman ducks behind a rock, big enough to hide her away. Straining her ears, Eri manages to catch a few words from the figures:

“You’re kidding me?” A Rebel soldier says. “This is the third time it has decimated our squadron!”

“The commander warned us…this thing is no joke.” Another pokes a bullet-ridden victim. “This one’s gun transforms into different ones. I don’t know how, but it does.”

“Is that why we have to bring a knife only??”

“Yup.”

“Dude! We’ll be dead by the time we start attacking!”

“…That’s the point? If we hold out long enough WITHOUT guns, we’ll be able to capture it!”

The second soldier sighs “If we don’t die…or worse.”

The first one glares at him before jogging off, the second soldier glances at the body one last time before following suit.

“ _I see”_ she moves away from the area. “ _I’m surprised that they are still trying to catch him. Doubtful they can even try_.” She looks behind her again before running over to her teammates.

“Well?”

“We’re not alone after all.” Eri says. “The rebels are here looking for him.”

Marco sighs. Not surprising. Considering the numerous bodies littering the ground, they are failing.

After double-checking, the team moves out. The silent atmosphere slowly makes them uneasy. Almost as if the shadows are watching their every move. Every time they head to a certain area, one of them must scout ahead. Once the close was clear they move ahead while keeping themselves on high alert. Even though Tarma and Fio were behind them, Raymond and Iria had to look behind them a few times, just to make sure the two weren’t snatched away. They continued this for a while, finding no one. Marco was about to call off the search to head somewhere else. That’s when he heard it, footsteps ahead of them. The group of six preserves themselves behind a destroyed vehicle. Marco, after telling the three to guard the robots, pokes his head out to get a better look. From there the Major manages to figure out where those footsteps came from.

Rebels. Wondering the area. Looking for Alex.

If they can get by without them noticing, they might be able to track him down. Marco gestures the group to follow him behind a bunch of sandbags. Raymond and Iria went first, then Marco, then Eri, Tarma, and Fio. He spots another group of sandbags further off but getting there will leave them wide open for an attack. Marco sighs, they don’t have a choice, so they carefully tiptoe their way over. Hopefully, the rebel grunts will not spot them.

No luck. One of them turns and spots the sneaking soldiers with their intended targets.

“Hey!

“Open fire!”

The minute they heard that sentence, the team springs into action. Quickly taking cover, the team fires back. They managed to kill a few before ducking down again. Fio pops up with Tarma and kills a few of the infantry. At the corner of her eye, notices a soldier getting ready to pull the trigger right at her temple. Just when he was about to fire, Fio notices the soldier collapsing on the filthy ground below him. A bullet wound the size of a dime appeared on his left shoulder. This shocked the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S agent, nevertheless, she delivers a clean bullet to the head, finishing the unfortunate soul off. Fio always scans the area before she pops out of her hiding place to return fire. The same results, a bullet wound to the shoulder, allowing the team to finish them off.

Then she saw it.

A figure with long hair. Heading to the nearest ditch.

Fio tugs the woman next to her. With a gesture, she follows the blur with Eri close behind. Between dodging bullets, the men shouting at them, and tumbling down the terrain, it was difficult to remove themselves. Fio was the first to get out and ran towards the blur. She would have been lost had it not been for the prints left behind. The clever girl she is, Fio knows that it was Alex that shot the rebel officer. She sees him running away from the carnage. The two continue onward till they stumble across an…interesting area.

In front of them, an open shaft, surrounding the hole is damaged minecarts. Some of there were turned over. The cold air brushes against the girls, making them shiver. Looking down on the ground once more. The footprints lead to inside said shaft, this was enough confirmation. Not knowing how deep the mineshaft goes. Fio decides to try to call out to the robot, if he doesn’t answer, then they’ll take the risk and move forward.

“Excuse me? Alex?” Fio yells out. Hoping her voice will reach the android. “I’m Master Sergeant Germi. I understand that you are frightened right now, so please listen to what I have to say. We are here to rescue you and your siblings.”

There was a minute of silence before a stern voice calls back.

 **“I don’t believe you!”** There is a tinge of weariness in his voice. **“I know your just saying that to lure me out!”**

“Young man,” Eri starts to say “I can assure you what she is saying is true! We already have your brother and sister in custody as we speak! Do you not believe us? Fine! Then we’ll leave you out here to rot!”

“Eri!”

 **“Do it then!”** Alex calls back.

Eri rolls her eyes and makes her way off the terrain. If he doesn’t want to be helped, she will have to do it the hard way.

“Eri!” Fio grabs the younger woman. “What are you doing?!”

“Leaving.”

“Why?? We are not leaving him here!”

“Didn’t you hear him? I am giving him what he wants. If he doesn’t want help, then we leave him.”

“Yes! But there no reason to-“ Fio stops herself. Something was off about Eri’s tone. As she is…bluffing? Is she? Just when she was about to open her mouth. Both she and Eri’s walkie talkie fill with static. They knew it’s one of the boys. The two immediately activate their talkies. From there, they hear Marco’s panicking voice.

_“ **Eri! Fio! Are you okay?”**_

“Yes sir!”

‘Yes sir.” Eri says in a lowered voice. “We found Alex and he’s not budging. You mind stopping by?”

_**“Copy that, we’ll be there soon.”** _

* * *

Minutes later, Marco and Tarma arrive with the two. With a nod, both siblings head straight to the girls. Up ahead they see Eri, Fio, and the mineshaft. It didn’t take a second guess as to why they were brought here. Both siblings look within the shaft then back to the girls.

“Is he-?”

“Yes,” Eri says. “try and convince him to come with us. We’ll be over here.”

“Ok, ma'am.”

Both Iria and Raymond step closer to the mineshaft. Not once has the cold air made them feel uneasy. They look at one another before Raymond moves his head towards the shaft. Iria sighs and takes a closer step towards her brothers’ hiding place. She takes a deep breath before she spoke out loud.

“Alex?” Iria began. “Big bro, long time no see!” Iria wanted to ease the tension around them. So, she attempted to greet her brother casualty. Nonetheless, it was an awkward attempt.

 **“Iria? Raymond?”** Alex echoes out. **“I’m glad you guys are safe.”**

“Yeah safe.” Raymond starts to say. “Anyway, get out of there! I don’t like wasting time trying to drag you out!” He groans. “Especially those jacks,” he pointed to the squad “helped us get to you. So don’t be a damn pain!”

“ **…They brought you all here?”**

“Yes?”

 **“Why do you trust them??”** Alex shouts. **“Can’t you see its a ruse** **for them to betray us!?”**

Iria flinches at his tone. As much as she wanted to shout back, she doesn’t want to lose his trust. The youngest sighs before opening her mouth again. “Because…they want to help us. They want to at least shelter us until they find our creator. If we stay out in the open, we’ll get captured and be worse off.” Iria looks in the darkness. “I, and I’m quite sure Raymond feels this way too, don’t want to keep running. We want to feel safe, and if means we must go with them. Well…what choice do we have?”

**“…”**

“Alex, I promise…”

**“Really…?”**

“Duh! Now would you get your butt out here already?” Raymond taps his foot.

**“…”**

Seconds later, Alex’s figure came into view. He smiles softly and hugs both his brother and sister.

The team takes a moment to glance at him. The android is very tall with reddish-brown hair, blue eyes, and a gray and black outfit. What’s noticeable about him is the numerous scars on his arms and face. They approach the three androids to break up their happy reunion. They are still in enemy territory after all!

Seeing them, Alex immediately lets go of his brother and sister. He runs up and salutes the team.

“I apologize for my actions where I have accused you of potential capture,” Alex says. “I now understand that you were only trying to help me. The way I have spoken to you was rude. I heavily regret my responses to you.”

 _“So polite”_ Fio giggles to herself. “You’re forgiven young man~”

Alex blinks before lowering his hand. Both of his sibling’s sighs in relief before turning to their older brother.

Marco takes a step towards Alex. Just from his speech alone he can tell that this android is a sort of “de facto” leader of the three. “Alex? Correct?” he sighs. “Now that we have found you all. We will be taking the three of you back to base where you’ll remain in custody. From there, we will be searching for the whereabouts of your creator. You are to stay with us until then. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“Good.” Marco nods “Move out, we’re heading back! Alex, Raymond, Iria, stay close to us. We do not wish to find you all again.”

“Yeah, we’ve been through hell trying to get you guys.” Tarma murmurs.

Eri slaps the Japanese captain upside the head. Earning a loud yelp from him.

After making sure that no one else is around, starts to Iria shift back into a helicopter. The PF squad double-checks the area to make sure that no rebel soldier is hiding or running towards them. The assembling sounds of Iria slowly come to a halt. Notifying them that she’s ready to go. One by one the team, plus Raymond and Alex, head inside. With the sound of the blades humming, she lifts off.

Marco heads over to an unoccupied seat. The man sighs he looks over to Tarma Eri, and Fio, who are all huddled over another part. His head turns to Alex and Raymond, who are both sitting by the cockpit, away from the windows. Marco pulls the laptop from his bag, flipping it open he hacks into the desktop frame once more. His reason is to make sure that there aren’t any surprises waiting for them. Gazing at the computer, the Major gets ready to move the mouse. The computer suddenly freezes. Marco sighs and goes to turn it off. The monitor warps itself into a blank black screen. Before Marco can do anything, a glowing green binary code pops into view.

Cracking his knuckles, the blonde types away, decoding each sentence presented in front of him. The Major is no stranger to decoding something like this. It’s almost as if it’s a second hobby for him. He continues this for a few minutes before getting around the cryptograph. Finally, the message reveals itself:

**Hello,**

**This is a message to whoever owns this laptop**. **I don’t know who you are, or what fraction you are in, but I entrust you with my fate**. **I have been captured and imprisoned in a rebel base near India**. **I will try to escape…but as you know…the rebels are relentless**. **I might die trying**. **Should you have recovered the androids by the time I die. I trust that you will steer them on the right path and treat them as a human being. I do not wish for my dreams to go to waste. Please come as fast as possible. Here are the coordinates.**

**D.H.A**

“…There’s been a change in plans!” Marco looks up to the team.

“What?”

“Dude, what’s going on?”

“Look at this!” Marco turns the laptop. “I just received an SOS from the creator. If we can get there before the third day. We might have a chance of retrieving them.”

The team inspects the message sent. It is typical for a person like them to create an SOS. Afterward, they may or may not plan an escape route. If they don’t make it out …their death is inevitable. Knowing Marco, the team knows he could not leave a person behind. DHA has some questions to answer after all of this.

Marco makes his way to the cockpit. Shaking his head, he swings open the door and heads straight to the radar monitor. Without another word, he uploads the coordinates in the android system. “Iria. Head to these coordinates immediately!”

**“Yes sir!”**

Marco then faces the team. With how critical the situation is. His expression tells the team more than they want to know. “The sooner we rescue them the better.” He says. “Otherwise, they're as good as dead.”


	7. Derek

The sky is bright blue and the sun is shining brighter than usual. Befitting the bright color, the weather is rather muggy. Thanks to his warning before, Iria treads carefully through rebel territory. It’s almost unnerving, normally the skies will be filled with planes. So far there has been nothing. Either they have already caught them on the radar and are planning an ambush or something more sinister. Whatever it may be, Iria keeps a careful eye out for the sake of her siblings and team.

Meanwhile, Marco is slumped in his spot. For the past few days, he’s been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Understandable if one was gathering three androids in different parts of the world. Two who fought back and one who took days to find. On top of that, trying to figure out who their creator is and wondering if they are alive or not. Now the creator is confirmed to be alive, he’s going to try and rest up before they drop in. Something about that letter troubled him still. Who’s DHA? Why dose those initials sound so familiar? His thoughts (and much-needed nap) were broken by the sound of the intercom beeping.

 **“Major Rossi?** ” Iria says. **“I’m right below the base and I would open the door. But there’s a problem.”** That small sentence came off as a whisper. So quiet that Marco himself did not hear it. 

“Report.”

 **“There’s a huge wave of activity down below. I don’t know what’s going on. But it doesn’t look good…I’m going to try and move away.”** The team can feel the android slowing down and giving in the opposite direction.

Activity? No doubt the rebel forces are out and about doing god knows what. On the upside, he and Tarma can get the drop on them and recover the creator that way. Marco looks out the little window he can briefly see an empty area. Strange, normally there would be people walking around. Perhaps it’s because they are so far up that they cannot see anything. Whatever it is they cannot waste any time. He and Tarma carefully approach the tightly shut door.

“This is good enough. Iria open the door. Tarma and I will take it from here.”

 **“No sir** , **It’s too dangerous!** Iria yelps. **“Hold on! Let me get you two over a safer area!”**

The major’s eyes gaze at the intercom. He has no time to wait! If anything, her creator could be out there fighting for their life! “Eri, Fio, protect these three. We’ll radio you when we have news.”

“Yes sir!”

Without another word, Marco vigorously opens the door. Iria shrieks in protest as both he and Tarma vanishes within the clouds. At first, he hears nothing, assuming that Iria was being paranoid. He immediately regrets it when he hears gunfire below. Soon enough the ground comes in full view. The battlefield is an utter blood bath. Both men pull their parachutes once they get closer to the soft ground below. With all their might they try to land behind a nearby sandbag. No luck, multiple bullets create holes in their chutes, causing both to plummet below.

Marco is the first to hit the ground when he came to, a dead body is the first thing he saw. He backs up in a panic. The Major takes several deep breaths before looking up. Tarma lands next to him and immediately pops right back up. It didn’t take the Japanese man second to see the body near them. With a nod, the two springs into action. The prisoners who have escaped are still trying to run, others are fighting back. The two had to push through the mayhem to get some sort of lead. The creator can be anywhere! They continue to charge the unexpecting rebels while looking for anything out of the ordinary. At best, any commanders on the battlefield. Just their luck. They spot a rebel commander not too far away. Both men make their way over before ducking behind a 3-ton Utility Truck. The two strains their ears to listen better. The commander speaks:

“Listen Privates!” the commander began. “General Moran gave us two objectives; eliminate all prisoners that have escaped and capture the creator of those three weapons! Look for a man with deep red eyes and if he isn’t captured within the next hour. I’ll personally put your heads on a plaque! Is that understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“Go!”

The two men see the soldiers salute the commander. One by one they take off in separate directions. Hoping to find their intended target. This information not only disturbs Tarma, but it troubles Marco. The person they just described. It feels like he knows them personally. Deep red eyes, why does that sound familiar? It’s almost as if…

 _“Isn’t that kind of dangerous?”_ Marco says looking at the brunette. 

_“No. I just want to see how robots react to the world around them for once.”_ A familiar voice echoes. _‘It’s kind of cliché to give a robot morality at the get-go. It’s even more so when they turn against their creator for something they believe in_. _I would rather not see that. I want them to experience right and wrong for themselves.”_

_Right and wrong_

Right and wrong…

“Derek.”

“Eh?”

“Derek! Derek is the one who created them!” He whips around. “I remember he was telling us about how he wants androids would see the world around them. Those nights where he would stay up writing! Remember he was talking to himself about changing the standard for robots? Them wanting to experience and make their own choices? DHA, Dervin Howard Aran!”

“Oh…oh no.”

Now they have another reason to find him as quickly as possible. The two started to fight harder, making sure that every soldier they kill stays dead. Each time they run into a group they take cover and fire back. One by one they encountered POW’s who has seen Derek running off in the distance. Another claims he went into a building and hid in there. They were not sure which one, but if the door is open, he’s probably in there. Gunning down some more Rebels they continue their path to where Derek presumably went. It became very apparent that he’s nowhere out here, nor any building they pass by has an open door. Until they run past a nearly crumbling structure, Tarma spots an open door. The captain runs across the battlefield and dives inside.

“Marco! Over here!” Tarma beacons his best friend. 

Covering his head Marco makes a U-turn before sliding in feet first. The two continue to run inside until they were out of sight. It’s dark, dank, and the sounds of men screaming fill their ears. Keeping their senses on high alert, the two explores the area. Aside from the noises coming from outside. They head deeper in the area, the sounds of gunfire and voices growing quieter and quieter. Eventually, silence comes upon them, with silence comes uneasiness. With a nod, they continue investigating. Nothing catches their interest unless one counts rats. No hiding places, empty rooms, only the sound of pipes dripping fills their ears. Marco turns to his best friend, his expression asking if he wants to continue. Tarma shakes his head. Seeing next to nothing they start to leave.

Until they hear a low groan, alarmed they turn to the source. A figure stumbles out of the shadows gasping. Not knowing who it is, they readied their guns. The figure lifts its head before doing the same. Neither party moves. If the other takes a step, it’s game over for all three of them. A bullet hits the floor, then another, then a third time. Each time they back up another is planted near them. This person doesn’t look like they aren’t trying to kill them. Marco takes attempts to step forward only to stop when a bullet ricochet near his foot.

“Back the hell up!” A voice barks at the two men. That voice. Marco and Tarma defiantly recognized him. They are surprised to see an old friend. Who is alive.

For once.

“Derek? Derek is that you?”

The figure says nothing. He slowly stumbles out of the darkness towards the one light fixture. Derek, he’s obviously in bad shape, with his back being the reason he can’t stand up straight. In his one hand is a pistol he stole from a fallen rebel soldier the other is hanging by his side. Despite his state, the man is still up and kicking.

“So, you're the one that’s causing all this mess?” Tarma smirks at his old friend.

“Shut up…” Derek groans, he tries to stand only to collapse. Both men grab their friend off the floor and put Derek's arm over their shoulder to help him.

“Can you run?” Marco asks Derek as he looks behind him.

“I can try.” Derek grunts.

“Well get ready.” Tarma said, “The second we run we're not stopping.”

“Whatever.” 

* * *

“AHHH DAMN IT!”

“Come on Derek! Move! Move! Move!”

“I’m TRYING to! Fuck this hurts!”

Each step brings a wave of agony, yet Derek picks up the pace anyway. Each time they encountered a group of rebels they either move in another direction or take turns killing them then pressing forward. Normally they would have gotten out within minutes. Due to helping their friend out, it’s taking longer than usual. Not that they mind, after all, they want him breathing.

With a short cry, Derek collapses on the hard floor. Causing his old friends to unintentionally drop with him. 

“Derek!?” Marco grasps hold of his hands. 

“I’m fine!” The brunette struggles to stand. “Let’s…get the hell outta here!” 

“Remind me to radio the infirmary once we leave,” Marco says as they began running. "I don't want you messing up your back further."

It didn’t take them long to return outside. Somehow when they were away, the scenery got even worse. The golden-brown sand is now replaced with all shades of red. The ground is now covered with numerous bodies from both sides alike. Most of them belonging to the prisoners themselves. It became clear that the prisoners are losing the fight. They need to get out of here and fast.

Tarma did not have time to react as Marco quickly radios the girls.

“Eri Fio, do you copy? Do you copy? We have found the creator and we are making our way out!”

**_“Roger that, we are preparing to land in a safer area.”_ **

As if on cue, they see Iria making her way ahead of them. With a deep breath, the men begin to run much faster than normal. Only stopping when it's too big of a crowd for them to run past. Luckily, Derek running (or attempting to) makes their rescue a lot easier. Marco looks around him, he feels awful leaving all these men behind to fend for themselves. But what can they do? Their numbers are dwindling and no matter how hard they fight; they end up gunned down. The major had to prevent himself from pulling a man and take him with them. He can tell that Tarma and Derek feels the same way as he sees them gazing at the falling men.

 _I’m sorry everyone._ Marco thought as they continue to clear the way.

All three push past the gate and to the outside area. In the distance, they see the hovering helicopter. Knowing it’s the girls and the androids, they press forward. Marco notices Derek slowly growing exhausted. In his current state, he’s not going last. To keep their old friend from falling over, they decide to slow down. Still running but slow enough to where Derek can keep up. Just when they were starting to jog, a bullet wiz by their heads. Marco turns and spots a group of rebels chasing them. Marco growls, why they wouldn’t give up?

“Over here!” Fio calls out as she and Eri fires at any rebel soldiers pursuing the three. 

Marco let’s go of Derek's arm first, allowing Tarma to carry the injured man by himself. He returns fire, killing a good amount before running after the two. They repeat this prosses as they get closer and closer to the vehicle. Just what it feels like forever, they finally get to their destination. Next, as Marco continues to discharge his bullets, the captain roughly shoves Derek in the vehicle.

“OW!”

“Sorry man!” Tarma lets Derek inside before getting in himself. Marco fires at one more infantry before hoping in. 

Once they were in, Iria immediately starts up. The remaining rebels begin to shoot at the copter. Thanks to the titanium Iria is made from, the bullets and weak rockets had little to no effect. The android lifts off and away from the carnage. As she gets further and further away. The sounds of gunfire grow fainter. Just as they were about to celebrate, a monstrous roar stops them dead in their tracks. Could Iria be malfunctioning? No, she would have told them. Suddenly the team is violently thrown on the floor, followed by heavy shakes. Iria shakes violently once more as another projectile hits her. 

That’s when Marco noticed something is wrong. Marco quickly makes his way to the cockpit. Another violent shake causes the major to roll on his side. Growling, he scrambles back up and charges towards the doorway. Marco jiggles the handle and holds on said handle when Iria suddenly flips on her side. Once he felt the copter rolls back over, he manages to open the cockpit door. He barely makes it in as another quake throws him on the floor.

“What’s going on!? Report!” Marco struggles to make his way towards the seat.

 **“We’re being chased!”** Iria yells as she continues to avoid the missiles. 

The android starts to soar up, down, side to side, she tries her hardest not to injure the group. But again, it’s hard when multiple explosive devices are homing on you. Dodging another missile, Iria groans. This is just like the last time she and her brothers where being chased. Iria nearly dodges another missile. One explodes next to the router, making her momentarily lose control. Thankfully, the android manages to get herself back on course. She continues onward, doing her hardest to confuse the pilots.

Marco finally buckles himself in and quickly puts his hand on the leaver. “Iria!” He barks. “Morph a minigun! I’ll take them down!”

The android obeys and out comes the weapon. Marco spins her towards enemy planes, with a press of a button, the gun goes off. Three out of the forty R-shobus goes down without a hitch. That still wasn’t enough to stop the missiles targeting them. Iria picks up the pace, but with the Major returning fire it became difficult to dodge any further. So, the android allows Marco to temporarily control her before she attempts to fly again. Marco continues to fire, gunning down six more. In retaliation, pilots hurl another hundred or so projectiles. He manages to force Iria to her left after on gets a little too close for comfort. The major allows the android to make a run for it. While he tries to figure out what to do. Where can they hide? There is nothing but clouds surrounding them…clouds.

Clouds!

“Iria!” Marco shouts. “The clouds! Go in!”

**“Wh-?’**

“It’ll provide cover!” 

Kicking up speed, Iriazooms in. Few R-shobus follows her inside. The sounds of bombs dropping, and rapid gunfire fills the air. Suddenly, the noises came to a stop. Did they get shot down? Or was it one of their own? That’s what the few R-shobus who remained wondered. They all hover around the clouds hoping to catch the helicopter off guard. If not, then it may have been shot down. They had a few minutes of silence until the tower radios them in.

**_“Any sign of the Boogey?”_ **

**_“Negative.”_**

**_“Confirmed, all squadron leaders retreat from the area.”_ **

Disappointed, the pilots soon steer away. The sounds of twirling rotors grow distance. Soon silence fills the air. 

Iria emerges among the white sheets that were protecting her and the team. After a few minutes of scanning the surrounding area, Iria spoke. **“Sir, they have left the area! I repeat they have left the area!”**

The group cheers once they heard the news. Finally, after almost two weeks, they’ve completed their long and difficult mission. Marco sighs, he hovers his hand to the radar monitor. From there, he inputs coordinates. “Iria, head over to these coordinates.” The major smirks. As he gets up from his seat. “We had a long week and I think you all deserve some rest.”

 **“Yes Sir!”** The android begins to move to the intended destination.

As the major walks out, he sees Alex helping his Derek back in his seat. A son helping his father. A scene that for obvious reasons, warms his heart. Alex leaves this dad and goes to check on his older brother. The brunette is still in pain, yet he manages to crack a smile as Marco approaches him. 

“I’m happy to see you guys again,” The injured creator says to his old friends. He turns over to Alex, Raymond, and the intercom, where Iria’s voice was heard. “including you three. I’m so proud of you.”

“There plenty of things you’ve missed over the year.” Marco chuckles. “I’ll fill you in once you recovered.”

Derek rolls his eyes. Without another word he slowly closes them. The team looks forward as Iria makes her way back to Regular Headquarters. Though they retrieved one of their own who will come back after recovering. 

They’ll never expect to gain three new allies that would join their ranks.

**Mission Complete!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for how anti-climatic and rushed this final chapter is. I may fix it in the future once I gain more experience. But now this fanfic is finally finished. With the Sonic story completed, I can move on to my original story and Mario fanfiction. Until then, I'll see you all next time!


End file.
